Irish publisher publishing traditional Irish books and music from Ireland

Bunaíodh Cló Iar-Chonnachta (CIC) i 1985, agus ó shin i leith tá os cionn 150 albam ceoil curtha amach againn, agus suas le 300 leabhar. Táimid ar cheann de na comhlachtaí foilsitheoireachta is bisiúla sa tír, agus ar an chomhlacht phríobháideach foilsitheoireachta Gaeilge is mó, le cúigear fostaithe go lánaimseartha inár n-oifigí in Indreabhán, Conamara.

Is mar choimirceoir, mar phatrún agus mar chaomhnóir ar chultúr na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta a fheidhmíonn CIC. Tuigeann muid an mhórthábhacht a bhaineann le caomhnú an tsaibhris chultúir seo, agus is é an aidhm atá againn spreagadh agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do cheoltóirí agus do scríbhneoirí agus ardán náisiúnta a thabhairt dá nguthanna.

Foilsíonn CIC réimse an-leathan litríochta; cnuasachtaí filíochta, gearrscéalta agus amhrán, úrscéalta, leabhair do dhéagóirí, leabhair do pháistí, tráchtais taighde agus leabhair staire. Tá roinnt leabhar Béarla foilsithe againn chomh maith, aistriúcháin a bhformhór ar mhórshaothair Ghaeilge. Tá roinnt mhaith de na saothair seo ar fáil ar dlúthdhiosca agus ar caiséad, cuid acu sa tsraith spreagúil An Béal Beo.

Ó thaobh ceoil de, ba é an príomhrún a bhí ag CIC nuair a bunaíodh é ná oirfidigh Chonamara (agus go háirithe na fonnadóirí sean-nóis) a thaifeadadh le go mbeadh teacht ar a saibhreas go forleathan agus go buan. Tá cúram ar leith fós á dhéanamh den chuspóir úd, ach tá ár réimse oibre leathnaithe amach go mór. I gcatalóg CIC inniu tá taifeadtaí sean-nóis ó gach cearn den tír, chomh maith le ceoltóirí aonair agus grúpaí traidisiúnta den scoth, ceol cajun, gaelcheol tíre agus ceol Chape Breton.

Tá dhá dhlúthdhiosca eisithe ag CIC ar a bhfuil teacht ar thogha agus rogha ár stór ceoil, Ceiliúradh, a foilsíodh i 1995 mar chuid d’ár gceiliúradh deich mbliana, agus Caise Ceoil, a foilsíodh i 2000. Foilsíodh togha na litríochta chomh maith mar chuid den cheiliúradh deich mbliana, agus tá fáil air sin sa leabhar Sláinte.

Is é an scríbhneoir Micheál Ó Conghaile stiúrthóir CIC. Bhunaigh sé an comhlacht i 1985 nuair a bhí sé ina mhac léinn ollscoile in aois 23 bliain. Is scríbhneoir bisiúil, éirimiúil é a bhfuil stór na nduaiseanna liteartha atá buaite aige ag méadú in aghaidh an lae. Ainmníodh a úrscéal Sna Fir ar ghearrliosta Dhuais Liteartha The Irish Times 2001, bhronn an Foras Cultúir Ghael-Mheiriceánaigh Duais Liteartha an Bhuitléaraigh air, agus bhuaigh a ghearrscéal ‘Athair’ príomhdhuais litríochta Hennessy i 1997.

Is í Deirdre Ní Thuathail an Bainisteoir Ginearálta, Lisa Mc Donagh an Bainisteoir Díolacháin, Lochlainn Ó Tuairisg an tEagarthóir Litríochta agus Aodh Ó Gallchóir an tEagarthóir Cúnta.

Cló Iar-Chonnachta

Cló Iar-Chonnachta (CIC) was founded in 1985, and since then we have published over 300 books and 150 music albums. Among the most productive publishing houses in the country, CIC employs five people full-time in our offices in Inverin, Connemara. We are the largest private Irish language publishing company in Ireland.

CIC sees itself primarily as guardian and patron of Irish language and Gaeltacht culture. We understand the great value of this culture, and the importance of protecting and fostering it. Our aim is to encourage and support our musicians and writers, and to help to bring their arts to a national audience.

CIC publishes a wide range of literature; anthologies of poetry, short stories and songs, novels, teenage fiction, children’s books, theses and history books. We have published some books in English, mainly translations of important Irish language literature, and also some bilingual books. Many of these works are available in audio format, many as part of the series An Béal Beo.

In terms of our music catalogue, CIC’s original goal was to record the musicians of Connemara, and in particular its sean-nós singers, to ensure that their rich tradition would be available to future generations. This remains one of CIC’s priorities, however our brief has been expanded to include many different genres of music including traditional, sean-nós from all over Ireland, Cajun, country and Cape Breton.

CIC has published two CDs containing selections of their best music. Ceiliúradh, a selection of the best music from CIC 1985 – 1995, was published in 1995 as part of our ten year celebrations, and Caise Ceoil was published in 2000, featuring the best from 1995 – 2000. The book Sláinte was also published in 1995 as part of the celebrations, and contains a selection of the literature from the CIC catalogue 1985 – 1995.

Micheál Ó Conghaile, a well-known and respected writer, founded the company in 1985 when he was a university student. A prolific and talented writer, he has been awarded many prizes for his work. His novel Sna Fir was named on the shortlist for the Irish Times Literary Prize 2001, he received the Butler Literary Prize 1997, and in the same year he won the Hennessy Literary Award for his short story Athair.

Deirdre Ní Thuathail is General Manager of CIC, Lisa Mc Donagh is Sales Manager, Lochlainn Ó Tuairisg is the  Literary Editor and Aodh Ó Gallchóir is the Assistant Editor.